President Joe Biden announced a new deal with Australia and Britain that provides the former with conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines in an unprecedented agreement to counter China's attempts for naval control in the Pacific.
Biden announced the deal on Monday aboard the submarine USS Missouri in San Diego, California, and he was flanked by Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The deal amounts to the first concrete steps taken by the three allies to deepen the AUKUS partnership that was announced a year and a half ago.
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The deal will not provide Australia with a nuclear-powered submarine force until the 2030s. This is still "much earlier than many had expected," a senior administration official told reporters. "It's a multi-phased approach that will deliver to Australia that capability far more quickly than even we thought possible when we originally and initially launched this partnership. It will result in all three nations lifting their game in their respective submarine industrial bases. It will involve a level of sensitive, sophisticated technological cooperation that is almost without precedent."
Australia will buy as many as five Virginia-class conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines, though the delivery of them isn't expected for years. U.S. and U.K. submarines will more frequently starting this year, the official explained, as Australia begins to build up its facilities and infrastructure. The United States and the United Kingdom will also establish a rotational force of submarines in Australia starting in 2027.
Simultaneously, Australia will look to build its own SSN-AUKUS submarine, though it will likely not be completed until the 2040s, given the lack of already developed infrastructure.
The agreement is one component of the U.S.'s efforts to prevent China from firming its grasp on the Asia-Pacific region. The Pentagon views China as the military's "pacing challenge," which increasingly possesses the ability and desire to change the international world order.
"Each of our three countries have a clear determination to take the necessary steps to maintain peace and stability going forward," the official explained. "It's the mission of the United States, and other allies and partners have accepted for decades. And we believe that it is increasingly being challenged and under threat not only by developments in China but other countries like North Korea and Russia, which shares Pacific engagement as well."
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Last month, the U.S. secured access to four more military bases in the Philippines, allowing for additional support for its allies in the region while also increasing Washington's ability to monitor China. In another attempt to combat Chinese expansion, Biden's recently announced defense budget includes more than $9 billion in support of the department's Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which is a 40% increase from the previous year.
"To sustain our military advantage over China, it makes major investments in integrated air and missile defenses and operational energy efficiency, as well as in our air dominance, our maritime dominance, and in munitions, including hypersonics," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement. "This budget includes the largest ever request for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which we are using to invest in advanced capabilities, new operational concepts, and more resilient force posture in the Indo-Pacific region. It also enables groundbreaking posture initiatives in Guam, Mariana Islands, the Philippines, Japan, and Australia."